Lesson 51
Review I
Review I
Introduction
1. Beginning with today we will have a series of review periods. ²Each of them will cover five of the ideas already presented, starting with the first and ending with the fiftieth. ³There will be a few short comments after each of the ideas, which you should consider in your review. ⁴In the practice periods, the exercises should be done as follows:
2. Begin the day by reading the five ideas, with the comments included. ²Thereafter, it is not necessary to follow any particular order in considering them, though each one should be practiced at least once. ³Devote two minutes or more to each practice period, thinking about the idea and the related comments after reading them over. ⁴Do this as often as possible during the day. ⁵If any one of the five ideas appeals to you more than the others, concentrate on that one. ⁶At the end of the day, however, be sure to review all of them once more.
3. It is not necessary to cover the comments that follow each idea either literally or thoroughly in the practice periods. ²Try, rather, to emphasize the central point, and think about it as part of your review of the idea to which it relates. ³After you have read the idea and the related comments, the exercises should be done with your eyes closed and when you are alone in a quiet place, if possible.
4. This is emphasized for practice periods at your stage of learning. ²It will be necessary, however, that you learn to require no special settings in which to apply what you have learned. ³You will need your learning most in situations that appear to be upsetting, rather than in those that already seem to be calm and quiet. ⁴The purpose of your learning is to enable you to bring the quiet with you, and to heal distress and turmoil. ⁵This is not done by avoiding them and seeking a haven of isolation for yourself.
5. You will yet learn that peace is part of you, and requires only that you be there to embrace any situation in which you are. ²And finally you will learn that there is no limit to where you are, so that your peace is everywhere, as you are.
6. You will note that, for review purposes, some of the ideas are not given in quite their original form. ²Use them as they are given here. ³It is not necessary to return to the original statements, nor to apply the ideas as was suggested then. ⁴We are now emphasizing the relationships among the first fifty of the ideas we have covered, and the cohesiveness of the thought system to which they are leading you.
Lesson 51
The review for today covers the following ideas:
1. (1) Nothing I see means anything.
²The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning. ³It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see. ⁴What I think I see now is taking the place of vision. ⁵I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.
2. (2) I have given what I see all the meaning it has for me.
²I have judged everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see. ³This is not vision. ⁴It is merely an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality. ⁵I am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see. ⁶My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.
3. (3) I do not understand anything I see.
²How could I understand what I see when I have judged it amiss? ³What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought. ⁴I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable. ⁵There is no sense in trying to understand it. ⁶But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can be seen and understood and loved. ⁷I can exchange what I see now for this merely by being willing to do so. ⁸Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?
4. (4) These thoughts do not mean anything.
²The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God. ³What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts. ⁴My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God. ⁵I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place. ⁶I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go. ⁷I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace. ⁸My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.
5. (5) I am never upset for the reason I think.
²I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts. ³I am constantly trying to make them true. ⁴I make all things my enemies, so that my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted. ⁵I have not realized how much I have misused everything I see by assigning this role to it. ⁶I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and that I no longer want. ⁷I am willing to let it go.